Jamie Smith Hopkins
Published on August 30, 2001
© 2001- The Baltimore Sun

As about 100 people watched, prime Ellicott City land owned by descendants of a Declaration of Independence signer was auctioned off on the steps of the Howard County Circuit Courthouse yesterday - and was promptly bought for $12.5 million by four of the family members, who plan to build houses there.

The 270-acre parcel sits to the south of the Carroll family's Doughoregan Manor, the stately home where Founding Father Charles Carroll once lived. Two branches of the family jointly owned the tract and were on the verge of battling over the fate of the land in court this year when both agreed to the auction. The development community turned out in force for the spectacle - and many laughed to see turkey vultures circling overhead.

"We've got all the players out here," said attorney Richard B. Talkin, looking over the crowd.

But the auction turned into a face-off between relatives rather than builders. Only about a dozen people handed over a $150,000 certified check necessary to register for the auction. Half didn't even bid. Soon only the two Carroll factions were left, each bidding through a developer, as auctioneer Robert Kline acknowledged the escalating offers.

"They had the edge," said Creig Northrop, a Realtor and developer who intended to bid but said the price spiraled quickly out of his range.

Unlike Northrop and other developers, both branches of the Carroll family knew going into the auction that they wouldn't have to pay full price. The four family members who won the bidding war own two-thirds of the tract and will have to come up with about $4.1 million to get the rest.

Compounding the nervousness for other potential buyers was that they had to bid blind, without the benefit of knowing how much of the parcel can be developed. Theoretically, as many as 135 houses could be built on the tract. But that doesn't take into account that the land doesn't have access to public water and sewer, and the Middle Patuxent River runs through it.

"It's got a lot of environmentally sensitive land," said David Carney, an attorney who has seen the property.

With all that in mind, the Carrolls probably figure to get at least $250,000 for what lots they can develop, he said.

`Tremendously high'

Anirban Basu, director of applied economics with RESI, Towson University's consulting arm, said the $46,300-an-acre price that the Carrolls bid is "tremendously high" for raw Maryland land. It's unclear whether the cost is much higher than average for Howard because the county doesn't track that data. Still, the final price is far beyond the $12,000-an-acre benchmark used by the county's agriculture preservation program.

The Carrolls' bid "will probably set the precedent for a lot of farmers down the road," Northrop said.

That's what worries Mary Catherine Cochran, president of Preservation Howard County.

"If the raw value of land goes up in the county, it makes it much more difficult to put together conservation packages," she said.

Activists plan to make sure that the Carrolls are aware of the government money available if they decide to preserve some of the parcel beyond what county regulations require, she said.

"It's a real blow to Howard County to lose that land," Cochran said. "It's a golden opportunity we've missed, and it's nobody's fault but our own. ... It's certainly not the owners' fault for selling their land. The environmental groups and the county and the state need to learn to work together."

To preservationists, the big unanswered question is what will happen to the 860-acre parcel nearby, on which Doughoregan Manor stands. About 275 years old, the manor is the only home of a Declaration of Independence signer still in family hands - but a historical preservation easement on the house and land surrounding it expires in 2007.

"I think it goes beyond the pure fact that it's the home of one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence: It goes to the heart of the history and the heritage in the county," said Fred Dorsey, vice president of Preservation Howard County, noting that the family played a key role in diversifying the county's crops and getting the B&O Railroad extended into Ellicott City.

Philip D. Carroll and Camilla Carroll, who own the manor house parcel, also have a one-third share of the 270 acres auctioned yesterday. They originally wanted to break off their share and develop it, a move opposed by the other relatives: Genevieve A. Carroll, John Lee Carroll, Thomas T. Carroll and Carter Carroll Ziegler.

The larger group prevailed about 15 minutes into the bidding.

"We're very pleased," John Lee Carroll said.

Single-family houses

Rob Moxley with Security Development LLC of Ellicott City, who put in the highest bid on the family's behalf, said his company will work with the Carrolls to prepare the land for single-family houses.

"We're going to develop a plan with the Carrolls for a first-class community," he said. "We don't know how many houses will be there. ... The property does have a fair amount of flood-plain area that will naturally limit the density."

As the crowd slowly dispersed, attorney Betty Adams, whose firm represented the other branch of the Carrolls, thought about the impact of a 15-minute auction and smiled.

"I think you saw something amazing," she said. 1. Auction talk: Rob Moxley (back to camera) of Security Development confers between bids with John Lee Carroll (right) and James R. Schulte, also of Security.
2. Land to be sold

1. DAVID HOBBY : SUN STAFF
2. SUN STAFF

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